Tenkar's Tavern: Spring Cleaning in the Fall

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Spring Cleaning in the Fall

I did some long overdue cleaning over the weekend with surprising results. You see, I have this one shelf that has turned into a cubby hole of sorts - odds and ends get placed there temporarily, some for longer temporary times then intended.

Case in point - my Dragon Magazine Archive has been missing the first disc since, well, forever it seems. I even went so far as to bid on another set on Ebay to replace it (didn't win). What do I find in a stack of CDs that were on that shelf? The missing first disc. Nice.

I also stumbled across Scrollworks Issue #1 by Christian over at Destination Unknown. A little piece of history was buried on that shelf it seems.

I still have to clean out the top shelf in the closet in my son's room. There is gaming material I haven't touched in years up there. It may be another archeological dig ;)

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Why "Swords & Wizardry?"

Believe me when I say I have them all in dead tree format. I have OSRIC in full size, trade paperback and the Player's Guide. I have LL and the AEC (and somewhere OEC, but I can't find it at the moment). Obviously I have Basic Fantasy RPG. Actually, I have the whole available line in print. Way too much Castles & Crusades. We all know my love for the DCC RPG. I even have Dark Dungeons in print, the Delving Deeper boxed set, Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea. BOTH editions of LotFP's Weird Fantasy and some dead tree copies of the Greyhawk Grognards Adventures Dark & Deep

I am so deep in the OSR when I come up for breath it's for the OSR's cousin, Tunnels & Trolls

So, out of all that, why Swords & Wizardry? Why, when I have been running a AD&D 1e / OSRIC campaign in Rappan Athuk am I using Swords & Wizardry and it's variant, Crypts & Things, for the second campaign? (Actually, now running a S&W Complete campaign, soon to be with multiple groups)

Because the shit works.

It's easy for lapsed gamers to pick up and feel like they haven't lost a step. I can house rule it and it doesn't break. It plays so close to the AD&D of my youth and college years (S&W Complete especially) that it continually surprises me. Just much less rules hopping than I remember. (my God but I can run it nearly without the book)

I grab and pick and steal from just about all OSR and Original resources. They seem to fit into S&W with little fuss. It may be the same with LL and the rest, but for me the ease of use fit's my expectations with S&W.

Even the single saving throw. That took me longer to adjust to, but even that seems like a natural to me now. Don't ask me why, it just does. Maybe it's the simplicity of it. At 45 52, simplicity and flexibility while remaining true to the feel of the original is an OSR hat trick for me ;)

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Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Spring Cleaning in the Fall

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